Late Night
by Oliviet
Summary: "Is this your way of subtly asking me if I'm viewing our new relationship as a conquest?" "No." "Liar." Post After the Storm. One shot


**AN: Short little one shot that just had to be done. Enjoy! **

She trails her hand up his bare chest, tracing around his pecs and reveling in him shivering under her touch. They had finally gotten round four in…and round five, and she was watching him slowly drift off in her bed.

"Cas, what you said earlier, about how we should have done this four years ago…" she starts, hoping he hasn't fallen fully asleep yet.

"Yeah, what about it?" he hums, his voice rough with sleep.

"You honestly think we'd be the same people today if we had?" she asks, biting her bottom lip.

Castle opens his eyes and looks down at her lying on his chest. "Where is this coming from, Kate?"

"We were different people back then. If I had slept with you after that first case, that would have been it. Just another notch on your bedpost, not…this."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do, Castle. I know the guy you used to be and how he's different from the man you've become."

He threads his fingers through her hair, tugging gently to bring her gaze up to his. "Is this your way of subtly asking me if I'm viewing our new _relationship_ as a conquest?"

"No."

"Liar."

She hums, pulling her hair out of his grip, and resting her head on her crossed arms on his chest.

He sighs. "When I said that we should have done this four years ago, it was a compliment to how amazing the other night was. And I sort of thought we were going to die and in thinking that, it made me wish that we had spent the past four years together as a couple and not just as partners. I wasn't thinking back on how I tried to proposition you after that first case. I was just thinking about you."

She kisses his chest, and then his neck, and then begins peppering kisses along his jawline until she finally captures his lips with hers. His hand snakes into her hair again, holding her head in place so he can deepen the kiss. She pulls away first, drawing her lower lip into her mouth again.

The sound of a siren wails in the distance, and she can't help but wonder if it was a body drop, a phone call she should be receiving had she not been on suspension. Her head turns towards the noise, staring out her bedroom window at the glowing lights of her city at night. They forgot to close the blinds.

"Wondering if the siren belongs to Ryan?" Castle asks, softly.

She nods, not saying anything.

"And just think you almost quit your job."

"I was trying to keep us safe. But I think it's going to be safer with me on the force."

"_Us _safe?" he parrots, a smirk tugging on his lips.

"If they want to get to me, I'm sure they know by now to hurt you. And I fear now that your involvement in all of this has put your family in danger as well. And I hate that it has. I hate that this thing has dragged so many people in and killed so many of them. But I think we're all finally safe…for now. We're safe until he calls my bluff; until he comes after me."

"Kate," he breathes, watching her move to a seated position by his side.

He sits up with her, draping his arms around her torso, pulling her into him.

"I'm not going to let them hurt you ever again."

"You can't make that promise. You can't stop a bullet, a sniper –"

"I can sure as hell try."

"You're not Superman."

He nuzzles her neck and she can feel his late night stubble bristle her skin. She realizes she has never seen him any other way than clean shaven. She wonders if that's going to change now, if everything is going to change now.

"You can't die on me, Kate. I can't let that happen."

Her ribs are still sore from the beating Maddox gave her and Castle is holding on to her a little too tight. She starts to shrug him off, but stops once she realizes the gesture without explanation would only be taken the wrong way by him.

"You're hurting my ribs," she mumbles instead, lacing her fingers in between his and forcing him to release his bear grip on her.

"Sorry," he mutters back, into hair, his tone now laced with worry.

"I'm not going to go down without a fight," she says after a beat of silence. "We're going to end this. Together."

"Together," he repeats, resting his chin on her shoulder.

He joins her in staring out the window. It seems quiet for New York, even if it is 3 o'clock in the morning. She couldn't sleep tonight if she tried; she's still too wired from everything that has happened. And it's not like she has work tomorrow or a phone call to wake her up at five because somebody died. Instead she has Castle, warm and solid at her back. She has him here, naked, in her bed, ready for a relationship with _her_.

If she could time travel and tell her 2008 self that this was happening, her younger counterpart would hardly believe it. Because he was, for all intents and purposes, a bit of a playboy. And now he is a one woman man, and she is that woman. She is that woman he would do anything to protect because he loves her. _He loves her_. She can still hardly believe it herself. The author whose words helped her through her mother's death is in love with her. It's surreal.

She knows she needs to tell him the truth about what his novels did for her, but not today. She's not ready to whip out his early works with the weathered spines and tear-stained pages, or the copy that reads _To Kate, may you find whatever it is that you're looking for. _No, she wants to save that for something special; for when she knows she's found what she's been looking for in him. When they get engaged maybe.

Beckett shakes her head for jumping to conclusions. Two days. They've been dating for two days. And yet she already has them walking down the aisle together and him being her one and done. _It's too early for that, Kate_, she mentally chastises herself, _he still has plenty of time to break your heart_. But deep down she knows he won't. Because he loves her, he's on board with this, and she's his third time's the charm.


End file.
